The present invention relates generally to temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMS) which are adapted to be fixedly secured to roadway surfaces in order to, for example, temporarily define traffic lanes or the like within construction zones, work sites, or maintenance or repair areas, and more particularly to a new and improved machine for automatically applying such temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) to the roadway surfaces within such construction zones, work sites, or maintenance or repair areas.
Various types of roadway markers have been utilized in connection with a variety of traffic control applications. Many roadway markers are adapted to be permanently attached or secured to the road surface so as to permanently delineate traffic lanes upon the roadway, while other roadway markers are adapted to be temporarily attached or secured to particular road surfaces in order to temporarily delineate traffic lanes within construction zones or other work areas. Accordingly, the latter type of roadway markers are known as temporary roadway markers and are usually attached or secured to the road surface by means of a suitable adhesive that can retain the roadway marker in its place upon the road surface during the temporary life of the roadway marker. More particularly, temporary roadway markers can serve, for example, as a means for identifying edge portions of the roadway, or alternatively, to delineate traffic lane lines and thereby demarcate separate lanes of traffic from each other in and around construction sites and other work zones. After the construction or other road work is completed, the temporary roadway markers are to be removed. In addition, to be effective, the temporary roadway markers must be capable of clearly alerting motorists to the fact that they are nearing or entering a construction zone or work area, and therefore, the temporary roadway markers must in fact be effective both during daytime hours, nighttime hours, sunny conditions, cloudy conditions, inclement weather conditions, and the like. More particularly, one type of temporary roadway marker that has been extremely successful or effective in providing short-term temporary markings upon roadways both during daytime and nighttime hours, and which has also been able to adequately withstand the various impact forces that are normally impressed thereon by daily roadway vehicular traffic so as to in fact provide the desired service life required in connection with the installation of such temporary roadway markers, has been that type of temporary roadway marker which is known in the industry as a temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM). Examples of such temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) are disclosed, for example, within U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,820 which issued to Hughes, Sr. on Aug. 29, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,405 which issued to Beard on Aug. 4, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,115 which issued to Speer et al. on Oct. 24, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,994 which issued to Edouart on Feb. 12, 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,803 which issued to Dixon on May 1, 1984.
As can readily be appreciated from FIG. 1, which corresponds substantially to FIG. 1 of the Speer et al. patent, it is briefly noted that an exemplary temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 10 is seen to have a substantially L-shaped configuration wherein the horizontally disposed leg portion 12 thereof is adapted to be fixedly secured or attached to the road surface by means of a suitable adhesive which is allowed to set, while the vertically upstanding leg portion 14 is adapted to be visually seen by the oncoming motorist. A transition region 26 flexibly interconnects the vertically upstanding leg portion 14 to the fixed leg portion or base member 12. A pair of rib members or ledges 28,28 extend substantially perpendicular to the upstanding leg member 14 and serve to define a space or channel 22 therebetween. A suitable reflective strip 23 is adapted to be fixedly disposed within the space or channel 22 so as to reflect sunlight or a vehicle""s lights in order to provide the oncoming motorist, as indicated by the arrow 25, with a visual indication that the motorist is approaching or entering a construction zone or work area. Alternatively, in lieu of the reflective strip 23, the entire marker 10 may simply be brightly colored so as to similarly provide the oncoming motorist with the necessary visual warning.
With reference being further made to FIG. 2, a temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM), which is similar to the temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 10 disclosed in FIG. 1 of the present drawings as well as within FIG. 1 of the Speer et al. patent, is disclosed at 110 and is seen to likewise have a substantially L-shaped configuration. In particular, the temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 110 comprises a horizontally disposed leg or base member 112, and a vertically upstanding leg member 114 integrally connected to the horizontally disposed leg or base member 112 by means of a transitional region 116. An adhesive pad 118 is fixedly secured to an undersurface or lower face portion of the horizontally disposed leg or base member 112, and in turn, a release sheet 120 is secured to an undersurface or lower face portion of the adhesive pad 118 so as to prevent the adhesive pad 118 from being inadvertently adhesively bonded to any surface, other than that particular location or portion of the roadway to which the temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 110 is to be fixedly secured, prior to the actual fixation of the temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 110 upon a selected location or portion of the roadway. As was the case with the temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 10 of FIG. 1 of the present drawings as well as those of Speer et al., the upper end portion of the vertically upstanding leg member 114 of the temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 110 also comprises a pair of horizontally disposed rib members 122,122 which define a space or channel 124 therebetween for housing or accommodating a suitable reflector strip, not shown. Alternatively, the entire extrusion comprising the temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 110 may be fabricated from a suitable plastic material which is brightly colored, that is, it may be fabricated from a suitable resin material which is white or yellow.
The temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMS) 110 are normally placed upon the roadway surface during an extended period of time that construction or other road work is being performed upon the roadway surface, and therefore prior to the completion of the entire construction or other road work as well as the application of the permanent traffic lane lines to the roadway surface. Accordingly, in order to protect the reflector strip, not shown, which is adapted to be disposed, housed, or accommodated within the space or channel 124 defined between the pair of horizontally disposed rib members 122,122, or alternatively, in order to protect the upper portion of the vertically upstanding leg member 114 when such portion of the temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 110 is to be used as the visual warning to oncoming motorists, from road paving materials, debris, and the like, a protective cover 126, fabricated from a suitable clear plastic material and having a substantially inverted U-shaped configuration, is disposed over the upper free edge portion of the temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 110.
When the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) 110 are to be subsequently used in conjunction with, for example, their traffic lane delineation functions, the protective covers 126 are removed, and still further, when the need for the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) 110 is no longer required in view of the completion of the construction or other roadwork, and the application of the permanent traffic lane lines to the roadway surface, the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) 110 must obviously be removed from the roadway surface. Until now, the process for mounting and securing the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) 110 upon the roadway surfaces was accomplished manually whereby construction workmen or other personnel would have to manually deposit the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) 110 onto the roadway surface as a result of, for example, removing the release sheet 120 and pressing the temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) 110 onto the roadway surface so as to cause the adhesive bonding of the same to the roadway surface. Obviously, such procedures are quite tedious and time-consuming. In addition, in view of the fact that the construction workmen or other personnel are physically present upon the particular roadway surface during the performance of such temporary raised pavement marker (TRPM) application operations, the workmen or personnel are necessarily exposed to dangerous vehicular conditions present upon the roadway which is obviously undesirable from a safety point of view.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved device, machine, or apparatus for automatically applying temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) to roadway surfaces so as to serve their useful purposes and functions in defining or delineating traffic lanes within construction zones or maintenance and repair areas, wherein, in particular, the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) can be applied to the roadway surface in a relatively rapid manner, wherein the construction workmen or other operator personnel do not need to tediously perform such removal operations manually, and in addition, and just as importantly, wherein the operator personnel or construction workers will not be needlessly exposed to dangerous roadway conditions presented by oncoming automotive vehicular traffic. In addition, a need exists in the art for ensuring the fact that the apparatus for applying the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) onto the roadway surface is properly maintained in engagement with the roadway surface despite irregularities encountered during movement along the roadway surface.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved device or apparatus for applying temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) to roadway surfaces.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved device or apparatus for applying temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMS) to roadway surfaces whereby the operational drawbacks and disadvantages characteristic of the PRIOR ART techniques currently employed for applying the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) to the roadway surfaces are effectively overcome.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved device or apparatus for applying temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) to roadway surfaces wherein the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) can be automatically applied to the roadway surfaces.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved device or apparatus for applying temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) to roadway surfaces wherein the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) can be automatically applied to the roadway surfaces such that construction workers or other operator personnel do not have to manually apply such temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMS) to the roadway surfaces in a tedious and relatively slow manner, and wherein further, the workmen or other personnel are not unnecessarily exposed to dangerous roadway conditions presented by oncoming automotive vehicular traffic.
A last object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved device or apparatus for applying temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) to roadway surfaces wherein the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) can be automatically applied to the roadway surfaces such that the construction workers or other operator personnel do not have to manually apply such temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) to the roadway surfaces in a tedious and relatively slow manner, wherein the workmen or other personnel are not unnecessarily exposed to dangerous roadway conditions presented by oncoming automotive vehicular traffic, and wherein the hitch mechanism interconnecting the towed vehicle to the roadwork service vehicle permits the towed vehicle to move independently of the roadwork service vehicle so as to ensure the fact that the wheel applicators of the towed vehicle always remain properly engaged with the roadway surface.
The foregoing and other objectives are achieved in accordance with the teachings and principles of the present invention through the provision of new and improved towed vehicle comprising apparatus or machinery for automatically applying temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMS) to roadway surfaces wherein the towed vehicle is operatively connected to a roadwork service vehicle or truck by means of a suitable hitch mechanism so as to be towed along a roadway surface onto which a plurality of temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) are to be placed. The machine or apparatus comprises a pair of conveyors wherein the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) are deposited upon upstream end portions of the conveyors by means of an operator or workman stationed within a rear portion of the roadwork service vehicle or truck, and the conveyors convey the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMS) downstream to lower end portions disposed immediately above the roadway surface. A pair of applicator wheels are disposed adjacent to the lower end portions of the conveyors, and in this manner, as the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) are serially dispensed and discharged from the lower end portions of the conveyors and onto the roadway surface such that the normally vertical leg portion of each one of the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) is disposed in a horizontal mode or orientation upon the roadway surface, the applicator wheels effectively roll over the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs), engage the normally horizontal leg portion of each one of the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs), which at this point in time is disposed vertically, and cause each one of the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) to rotate about its transitional corner region such that the normally horizontal leg portion of each one of the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) is now secured to the roadway surface by means of its adhesive pad.
In addition to the conveyor and applicator wheel apparatus for achieving the automatic application of the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) onto the roadway surface, the hitch mechanism operatively interposed between the roadwork service vehicle and the towed vehicle provides for pivotal movement of the hitch mechanism so as to permit the towed vehicle, upon which the conveyors are disposed, to effectively move independently of the roadwork service vehicle such that the towed vehicle, and the conveyor and wheel applicator mechanisms thereof, are always maintained properly engaged with, and with respect to, the roadway surface upon which the temporary raised pavement markers (TRPMs) are to be applied. Application of the tempoorary raised pavement markers (TRPMS) onto the roadway surface in adjacent pairs simulates, for example, double-yellow traffic lane lines for separating opposite lanes of vehicular traffic.